In multiplayer, however, things are different.

In singleplayer, obstacles are slightly less threatening, and you’ll have four hitpoints between checkpoints. Once you’re into the groove of things, each stage has several checkpoints that restore health on death (sans boss fights, which must be done in one go).

It’s jaw-dropping how well the tracks and stages compliment each other, and it becomes almost second nature to realize what kind of obstacles are in store just from the sound of the music. One features lavish orchestral electro accompanied by swirling circles that send out graceful ribbons of pink another is bass-heavy dubstep that features large pillars slamming down into a pool of water-like lines, causing them to swell upward. Finding out where it’s safe to hover for a moment or how best to exploit the patterns of the rhythm is all in the fun, and an audio-visual feast is provided in every frame of the game.Įvery level has a distinct flavor in Just Shapes & Beats. Playing as one of four shapes, you must dip, dive, duck and dodge your way through a vast variety of visualized audio cues. Every beat, synth, and snare in the game is visualized as an obstacle to be avoided. The novelty of Just Shapes & Beats is that it gives the player room to experiment. One could argue this is true for any rhythm game, as mastering a song requires the skill to see it through to the end. What if, instead of reacting to a song like a composer trying to keep up, the player was forced into a defensive position? What if each track was a battle for dear life, each beat an obstacle to overcome, and rather than mastering it you were just trying to survive? That’s where Just Shapes & Beats comes in. Just about every title involves doing something to the beat of a song, be it Crypt of the Necrodancer or Audiosurf, and we rarely see a serious deviation from this staple. Rhythm games: a surprisingly eclectic genre that, despite failing to recapture the magic of Rock Band still manages to innovate even today (see: Beat Saber).

Just shapes and beats boss